


I looked for you today (I Think I See You A Little Better Now)

by vulcanhighblood



Category: Naruto
Genre: Discord: Umino Hours, Family Fluff, Gen, Kid Uzumaki Naruto, Pre-Naruto Canon Era, Umino Hours Winter Bingo, Umino Iruka is a Good Teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28925169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanhighblood/pseuds/vulcanhighblood
Summary: Iruka and Naruto share a hot drink on a chilly day.
Relationships: Umino Iruka & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48
Collections: The Umino Hours Winter Bingo 2020





	I looked for you today (I Think I See You A Little Better Now)

**Author's Note:**

> My third work in the Umino Hours Discord Server's Winter Bingo.  
> Written for the prompt: Hot Drinks

Muttering under his breath about annoying pre-genin students, Iruka stomped through Konoha’s main thoroughfare, ignoring the vendors and novelty shops peddling their winter wares. Tugging his threadbare scarf tighter around his freezing nose and trying to keep the edges wrapped around his ears, Iruka scanned the area, determined to spot his quarry. 

A flash of orange caught his eye, and aha! He darted forward, managing to just snag the sleeve of his wayward student before he could get away.

“Aaah!” the student yelped, wriggling like Iruka had jabbed him with a cattle prod, not grabbed his sleeve. “Iruka-sensei! Why are you here?”

“Naruto!” Iruka chided, ignoring the myriad of civilian stares the child’s antics had drawn. “Why didn’t you come to class?”

Naruto ceased his wiggling and turned to gaze up at Iruka with genuine confusion in his eyes. “Huh?”

Iruka blinked back at Naruto, a suspicion creeping over him. “Classes started today,” he said slowly. “Why weren’t you there?”

Naruto’s mouth fell open. “Classes started  _ today?” _ He practically shouted, informing everyone in about a three-block radius that the Academy had, indeed, begun classes today. 

“Yes,” Iruka said, feeling less exasperated with Naruto and more exasperated with whoever was supposed to be taking care of him by the second. “Classes started today. You didn’t know?”

Naruto shook his head slowly, big blue eyes gazing up at Iruka with uncertainty. “Are you… mad?” he asked softly. 

Iruka sighed, releasing Naruto’s sleeve and shaking his head. “No, it was an honest mistake.” he said. “But there  _ is _ a homework assignment you should get started on.”

Naruto’s shoulders slumped. “Oh.”

Iruka cast his gaze around, spotting a vendor stall nearby and grinning. “Tell you what,” he said, “I’ll buy us each a nice cup of amazake, and we can warm our hands on our hot drinks while we talk about what you missed in class today, okay?”

Naruto frowned slightly. “What’s amazake?” he asked. “I don’t think I’ve had that before.”

“No?” Iruka asked, for a moment feeling genuine surprise before remembering that Naruto had no one to drag him through the winter markets during the cold months. “Oh, well, you should definitely try it, then.” He tugged lightly on Naruto’s sleeve again, but this time the boy didn’t resist, trailing after him and watching his movement with a mixture of anxiety and curiosity. 

“Two amazakes, please,” Iruka said, popping up to the vendor with a grin. He paid the thirty ryo and accepted the two cups with a grin and a quick word of thanks before turning around. Fortunately, Naruto had decided not to take advantage of his turned back to sneak away - with Naruto, that was always a risk when there was no active consumption of food or drink to distract him. 

“You’re in for a treat,” Iruka informed him, handing one cup to Naruto and tilting his head to indicate they should take a seat on the nearby bench reserved for customers. He sank down with a sigh, happy to rest his legs after a long day of teaching.

Beside him, Naruto gingerly settled down on the bench, like he was expecting to leave at any moment. “I really didn’t mean to skip class this time,” he said glumly, staring down at his steaming cup but not taking a sip.

“I believe you,” Iruka said gently, because he did. Tugging down his scarf, Iruka shivered a little, eyeing the small boy before him, cheeks and nose bright red from the cold, hands cupping his little warm drink like it was full of something precious, something far more than a mere mildly sweet rice drink. “Are you cold?” he asked then, because the boy wasn’t wearing gloves or a hat or anything and Iruka didn’t like seeing that at  _ all. _ Who was supposed to be caring for the boy, and why weren’t they doing their job?

Naruto shrugged one shoulder, his expression carefully neutral. “It’s fine.”

That, more than anything, broke Iruka’s heart. “Well, you look cold to me and it’s making me cold,” he declared, setting his own cup of amazake aside and unwinding the scarf from around his neck, carefully draping it around Naruto’s neck instead. The boy sat stock still, eyes wide as Iruka tucked the scarf around him, making sure it was up to his ears but sat beneath his chin so he could still drink his amazake. “There,” Iruka said when he’d finished, picking his amazake back up and tilting it in Naruto’s direction. “Cheers?”

Naruto looked slightly confused, but played along, tapping his paper cup against Iruka’s. “Cheers,” he echoed, his voice soft. He took a small sip of the amazake, a smile curling his lips as he glanced up at Iruka. “It’s sweet!”

“Mm-hmm,” Iruka agreed with a smile.    
  
“But it’s also… ricey,” Naruto continued, tilting his head as he considered how to describe it. “Like, fruit-ish, but also not actually fruity? LIke a sort of sweet rice-ish drink taste thing.”

“A sweet rice-ish drink taste thing?” Iruka echoed, a smile tugging at his own lips as he did so.

Naruto scowled. “Yeah,” he said, almost belligerently. “Got a problem with that?”

“Sounds like a perfect description to me,” Iruka replied, his own smile softening a little as he took another sip of his own  _ sweet rice-ish drink _ , glancing up at the sky. It was getting dark now, as it often did in the wintery evening. “Do you have dinner plans?”

Naruto glanced up from his cup, which he had already drained and was trying tshake o the last few grains of rice out of the cup and onto his tongue. “Huh? No,” he answered, setting his cup down, momentarily forgetting about the lingering rice in his cup. “Why?”

“I was thinking it might be nice to discuss your homework over ramen,” Iruka said with forced nonchalance. 

“Really?!” Naruto yelled, effectively destroying the quiet moment. Iruka found he didn’t mind that, though.

“If you want,” Iruka said. “How about Ichiraku?”

“What are you waiting for?” Naruto demanded, once more shaking his amazake cup with fervor, more determined than ever to get the last few grains of rice out. “Let’s finish our drinks and go!”

Grinning, Iruka reached over and ruffled Naruto’s hair. “All right,” he agreed, draining his own cup of amazake and rising to his feet. “Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh this was short and sweet but i really love the brotherly/paternal relationship between Iruka and Naruto, and this prompt just seemed like a great chance to showcase that relationship  
> I hope you liked it!


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